Pickleville Playhouse presents love on and off the stage

Imagine a packed house; the lights dim and the music swells. On the stage plays a familiar story—two people meet and grow in love.  

Pickleville Playhouse, a family-run theater in Garden City, is telling the tale as old as time this summer with their production of “Beauty and the Beast.” The show runs until August 19.  

But the love doesn’t have to end with the show.

Makenzie Davis, the actress starring as Belle in the production, is a daughter of the theater. She grew up watching her family create the shows at Pickleville and now gets to take part in those creations herself. 

Davis recalled being a little girl in the front row, watching in awe as her cousins performed.  

“When I got a little older, I would help with quick little changes backstage, and I thought it was so cool,” she said. “Backstage, everyone was nice to me, and I was just waiting and waiting for my day to be on stage.” 

Davis’ maternal grandparents built Pickleville Playhouse when her mom was in high school. Today the playhouse is owned by Andrea Davis, Makenzie’s mother.  

“It was very much born into my soul. I always say that I got very lucky and got born into the right family. Obviously, we all believe that,” Davis said.  

However, being born into the theater scene didn’t just give Davis a fun hobby or guarantee her a summer job, but it also led her to her own happily ever after.  

In 2015, Nathan Kremin auditioned for Pickleville’s production of “The Drowsy Chaperone.” He had been studying journalism at Utah State University before he took a year off from school. It was during this time off that Kremin realized he wasn’t doing what he wanted. 

Kremin said it was a “happenstance” that he ended up at Pickleville, and he has his older sister to thank for sending him the audition notice. He had done theater all throughout his teenage years, but he had been persuaded out of pursuing it long term. 

 “I just thought, you know, I don’t really like what I’m doing right now, so I’ll just kind of go back to what I know,” Kremin said. 

Since joining Pickleville, Kremin said he has found a strong love for the theater and the community. 

“Since then, I’ve loved it up here. It’s been a really wonderful place filled with a lot of love,” he said.  

It was also at Pickleville where Kremin met his real-life Beauty, Makenzie Davis. 

They met at call-backs—both were cast for “The Drowsy Chaperone.” The two got to know each other over the summer and became friends. Though Kremin was interested in Davis, the feelings weren’t mutual. At least, not until the summer came to an end.  

“I was like, ‘Oh, oh no, I kind of like him,’” Davis said. 

As luck would have it, Kremin came back the next year and the two started dating. 

Since then, Kremin and Davis have acted in a few shows together. “Beauty and the Beast”, however, is their first time leading together, with Davis as Belle and Kremin as the Beast. 

It’s also Davis’ first time directing. And as a now newly engaged couple, this meant learning how to navigate boundaries between their personal and professional lives.  

“When we did have those challenges, which were relatively minor compared to other challenges we could have had, it helps a lot being able to say ‘I love you, I just need to understand where you’re coming from so I can better serve the story and better serve your vision,’” Kremin said. 

For Davis, it was about establishing ​​fiancée mode versus director mode. 

“He [Kremin] was like, ‘I feel like you are treating me like your fiancé and wanting to be nice to me, which is great, but I also need you to be my director and tell me what you want.’ And I was like ‘OK, yes, then know when I tell you things nicely, this is coming off as a director nicely, but I love you and think you’re doing amazing.’” 

Outside of her new relationship on stage, Davis was also able to successfully navigate her new role as director. 

“It was a really good show for me to take on as my first time because I stuck to the beautiful story of what it is and just let it tell itself,” Davis said.  

Ultimately, she was thankful for having such a wonderful cast. 

“A lot of the other things, the actors just came and created things on their own, and I was like, ‘Yep, that’s good,’” Davis said. “It’s a group process of creating something, but I think that’s the magic of theater. It’s all a team game.” 

And to Davis, even the audience is a part of the team.  

“There is something about sharing this story with an audience. It’s an experience we are all having together,” she said. 

She credits her family and Kremin for being supportive, patient and helpful in the process. 

Davis’ role as director was further complicated by being a lead in the show. As director, she was focused on guiding the rest of the cast in their roles, which meant less time to focus on her own.  

“For Belle, being the director, my purpose of character development came later than I would have hoped because I was so focused on everyone else,” she explained. 

According to Davis, the inspiration for her character came from within. 

“I try to find where it sits in my personal life, and that makes it easier for me to tell her story,” she said.  

Davis has found many parallels between herself and Belle, including the close relationship Belle has with her father to the one Davis has with her mother.  

“It’s her and her dad, and she really doesn’t say it much, but it leads me to believe that her mother has passed away,” Davis said.  

Davis lost her own father when she was 14 years old.  

 “I tried to find the emotion that I felt,” she said. “Imagining being shut away in this castle and never getting to see what I have left, which is my mom. If I would never be able to see her again, the real emotion of that.” 

When it came to her relationship with the Beast, Davis tapped into her own emotions about Kremin. 

“Again, it’s an enchanting story that is not the same, but there are lots of similarities about the way we feel about how we fell in love personally and how they find love together,” Davis said. 

In the end, for Davis, it’s about conveying something honest through the character. 

“I think just finding the honest truth in Belle that relates to me, as Kenzie, really created something that I feel when I’m on stage.” 

-Annie.Lawyer@usu.edu

Submitted photo